William Laughton Lorimer, was born in 1885. His lowland Scots translation of the New Testament, written when he retired in 1955 at age 70, is considered to be one of the finest works in the language. Although Lorimer himself wasn’t religious, he was born into an intellectually distinguished family of several generations of clergymen. He […]

According to the New York Times Ancestry.com is in talks with private equity firms, TPG Capital, Providence Equity Partners and Permira on a possible sale of the company with final bids due next month. This news comes hot on the heels of reporting that the second quarter revenue rose 18% to $119.1 million. Per-share profit […]

Findmypast.co.uk says: “We’re pleased to announce that we’ve published 150,388 new parish marriage records for Devon on findmypast.co.uk The records span the period 1837-2002. Anyone with Devon ancestors will want to search these records for fresh information about their ancestors’ marriages. See a detailed list of the areas and churches these records cover (PDF) The Devon Family […]

“Looking for relatives in Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Utah? We’ve just released fully-searchable indexes for all 12 states. And 26 other states are ready to search. And remember, if the state you’re waiting for isn’t indexed yet, you can still look through 1940 […]

Wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill was one of the greatest leaders of the 20th Century. Not only are his books eloquently written they are also interesting and notably readable. At the end of World War II, Winston Churchill was forced to resign as British prime minister following the Conservative party’s electoral defeat by the Labor […]

Thanks to the Manchester and Lancashire Family History Society who provided the information, Findmypast.co.uk (subscription or pay-as-you-go) has newly published the following two sets of WWI records: Oldham Employers’ Roll of Honour 1914-1920 Search records for more than 1,900 men who had enlisted in His Majesty’s Armed Forces and who were employed by companies in […]

The National Archives and Records Administration has today released a press notice to commemorate the 22nd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act featuring Presidential records on a new web research page as follows: “Washington, DC…To commemorate the 22nd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the National Archives is featuring Presidential records related […]

Human’s for the most part are social creatures, which is why Facebook and Twitter have been so successful. It’s not a surprise to learn that Facebook draws 175 million logins every day. Along with all this popularity there is a dark side. Cyber criminals go where the numbers are and, of course that includes the […]

According to the Indiana Covered Bridge Society, between 1820 and 1922, six hundred covered bridges were built in Indiana. Covered bridges were originally built that way to protect the bridges’ wooden floors from rotting. Unfortunately, less than one hundred are still standing. Amateur photographer, the late Sydney B. Pepe, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, who died […]

Stephen Covey renowned author of the “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” one of the best-selling books ever died last week at age 79. He was a giant in the self-help world and sold more than 20 million copies of his book, effectively communicating these habits in an easy-to-understand, practical manner. The seminar on the […]

The American Civil war and its devastating consequences were not confined to the United States. The conflict also had repercussions in the cotton districts of North West England, where there was a dependency on supplies of raw cotton from our southern states. When the supply was interrupted there was real hardship. This situation led to […]

If you’re have a vacation planned in Scotland in August or early September there’s a free exhibition being held at the Scottish Parliament called ‘Special Delivery: The William Wallace Letters‘. William Wallace was a legendary hero to generations of Scots long before the movie Braveheart. Although I enjoyed the great movie starring Mel Gibson, I […]

Ancestry.com has recently sent out a notice that Internet connection problems user were experiencing with Family Tree Maker for the Mac is resolved as follows: “We are pleased to announce that the Internet connection issues people have been experiencing with Family Tree Maker for Mac have been resolved. To get the update, close out of […]

The deepest and largest precious metal treasure has been recovered from a 412 foot steel-hulled British merchant vessel the S.S. Gairsoppa that sank in the North Atlantic in February 1941. Forty-eight tons of silver was pulled from three miles below the surface by deep-sea explorers from Odyssey Marine Exploration. The haul recovered was 1,203 bars […]

It’s always so nice to read a heartwarming article when current climate of finger pointing and lies in a quest for power has reached the point where people actually view their actions with disgust. This particular story started in nasty actions by some vandals who broke headstones at Felts Mills cemetery near Potstdam, New York […]

More from Findmypast: Search more than 13,000 new baptism records for the docklands areas of London on findmypast.co.uk Details of the coverage of the new baptisms are as follows: Area Number of records Date range St Dunstan, Stepney 10,062 1689-1697 George In the East, Stepney 2,403 1893-1901 St Andrews, Bethnal Green 760 1843-1876 This is […]

A newly revamped and user friendly website will soon be online from the Library and Archives of Canada. It’s one of the first federal sites to conform to the new Government of Canada design. The news release is as follows: “A new gateway for finding out about Canada’s heritage will soon be opening up online: […]

A collection of records comprising 128,000 images of the Church of England parish baptisms, marriages, banns and burials called The Canterbury Collection is now available at Findmypast as follows: “We are pleased to announce the launch of the Canterbury Collection on findmypast.co.uk The collection comprises 128,000 images of Church of England parish baptisms, marriages, banns […]

As most of us know New York City is the Big Apple of the Northeast. This wasn’t always the case. About 500 years ago (1500 and 1530) when Europeans were starting to visit the New World, a new settlement the size of Manhattan was established in Canada on the North Shore of Lake Ontario in […]

FamilyTreeDNA (FTDNA) consistently holds timely sales on their large battery of DNA tests for genealogical purposes. If you’re considering taking one of the many different ancestral tests, now is the time if you’d like verification of a relationship on your family tree. Older relatives are the best candidates because they’re a generation closer to the […]

Don’t forget you can research online free of charge on FamilySearch.org. The latest additions to their 1940 Census Index Project is as follows: “FamilySearch is excited to announce the addition of Minnesota and Rhode Island to the list of completed and searchable states in the 1940 US Census Index Project. To date we have indexed 84.35% of the entire […]

One hundred and thirty-five years ago the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club began its first lawn tennis tournament at Wimbledon, England. Although a total of 22 people registered to play in the Gentlemen’s Singles tournament only 21 amateurs competed on the July 9, 1877 the first day of the tournament. The prize was […]

If you’re looking for another resource to help you locate your Scottish ancestors the National Library of Scotland (NLS) has over 700 directories digitized, which cover most of Scotland and date from 1773 to 1911. They are also a valuable resource for the years not covered by the census which started in 1841 and carried […]

Handwritten letters from the first President of the United States have gone on display at the National Library of Scotland. The following is a press release from the National Library of Scotland. The press release is as follows: “The road to American independence is being mapped out at the National Library of Scotland (NLS) in […]

If you have ancestors who hail from the beautiful areas of Plymouth or Devon in England, Findmypast.co.uk has added 6,386 baptism and burial records as follows: “We’ve added 6,386 new parish records to our Plymouth and West Devon Collection These new records make a fantastic addition to the records we published in May for 3.5 million people in […]

The following is a news release from Ancestry.com clearly illustrating the continued popularity of genealogy and family history research: “PROVO, Utah, July 2, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Ancestry.com (Nasdaq:ACOM), the world’s largest online family history resource, has added its two-millionth active current subscriber. The milestone recently was reached when Yvonne Ocheltree, of Collierville, Tenn., […]

Origins.net is offering free access to the Prerogative Court of York Wills and Administration as follows: “Prior to the establishment of a government run system for probate in 1858, there existed over 300 church courts where wills could be proved. One of the most important of these was the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of York, […]

Blockbuster movie The Hunger Games, filmed in North Carolina, has made a hot new tourist spot at Henry River Mill Village, Eastern Burke County, just off Henry River Road. Once you leave Interstate highway 40 you drive about a mile and right before you enter Catawba County you’ll find what is labeled in the movie […]

The National Genealogical Society (NGS) is in celebration of the July 4 weekend with an announcement of attractive member benefit. Fold3 is offering NGS members a great price-break when they purchase a Fold3 Annual Membership: “The National Genealogical Society is proud to announce a partnership with Fold3, the premier military history website. NGS has worked […]